Flower and Ice
by angelforshow
Summary: Discont.
1. Chapter One

**Summary:** AU. Sakura and Sasuke are best friends. To save him from a horrid fate, Sakura tried to do the impossible: find Uchiha Sasuke a girlfriend. But the perfect girl is closer than she thinks… Besides, two things are certain – never mess with an angry Uchiha, and never, ever fall in love with your best friend… SasuSaku

**Disclaimer:** I don't happen to own anything Naruto related. That cool guy in Japan does.

* * *

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_Flower_ and **Ice**

x. Prologue

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* * *

The maid looked up at the ceiling as the crystal chandelier above her head wobbled, sending diamonds of light spinning around the room. Faint, angry screams could be heard even though the ceiling was at least ten feet above her and the walls were plenty thick.

Shaking her head, she turned back to scrubbing the wooden bar table at the corner of the huge mansion's ballroom.

Another ceiling quake.

Peering at the walls, the maid observed how all the paintings and wall hangings had readjusted themselves crooked, and she swore she saw a couple spiders duck for cover behind a rather dusty tapestry.

_Crazy, rich, Japanese business men,_ she concluded with a slight eye roll, as she paused for a moment to switch from the rag to a toothbrush to clean away at a particularly tough stain (that she suspected was whiskey).

"Heather?"

Her head snapped up to attention as she sneakily tossed the toothbrush back into the plastic bucket behind her (he may notice that the toothbrush had, in fact, been his) and straightened her uniform hurriedly.

Her employer rubbed his temple, brushing away a few gray-black hairs in the process, taking deep breaths. "Can you hand me that small bottle behind you?" Fugaku asked the maid, his voice as monotonous and collected as ever.

She nodded, passing him the foggy glass bottle, decorated with a simple lotus blossom and several kanji.

"Thank you." He popped the cork out.

Heather watched in disbelief as she saw her boss calmly down the entire contents of a (very full) bottle of (very strong smelling) sake.

Shaking her head once more, she moved to start dusting the vodka bottles.

She should've listened to her mother and gone to college.

* * *

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_Flower_ and **Ice**

x. Chapter One

-

* * *

Haruno Sakura loved summer.

The whole concept of no school was ingenious to her. It meant freedom – all day, everyday. She could do anything she wanted: sleep in, stay out late, shop, spend as much money as she could, go to the spa, eat gourmet every meal…maybe even start on that summer reading for AP English 11. Either way, freedom was freedom, which was why she planned on milking her last week of break for everything it was worth.

Stretching out on her pool chair, she yawned lazily as she basked in the afternoon sun, examining the new French manicure she had treated herself to just after lunch. The latest manicurist/pedicurist was the best yet (which is how she earned herself a hearty tip).

Snuggling deeper into the warm plastic of her chair, Sakura sprayed on some more sunscreen before closing her eyes, giving into the thick, drowsy, 3 o'clock summer heat.

Life was good.

--

At the Haruno Estate, dinner had always been a formal affair.

Ever since Sakura could remember, her "family dinners" had always consisted of frilly dresses, gourmet food, and business talk – perfect for molding their daughter to take over the wonderful niche in the business world the Haruno family had carved themselves.

This meant that eating in your dirty lacrosse uniform fresh after a game (like Tenten) or gossiping about neighbors at the table (such as the Yamanaka family) was simply out of the question.

Family dinner wasn't for bonding; it was for etiquette training.

Sakura straightened out the gauzy black overskirt over the muted jade green silk dress. It was quite a lovely dress – the black chiffon (the gauzy stuff) covered the entire dress, tiny holes allowing the green to peek through, and the designer had covered the chest with the same chiffon, except she had twisted it into inset roses connected through the chiffon. Across the waist was a solid black band of thinly layered chiffon, and then the skirt flowed out, ending a couple inches above her knees.

She drummed her fingers against the long table, her lips pursed. She supposed constant formality was a business tycoon thing. The Uchiha Family and the Hyuuga Family were exactly the same way.

But either way, Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly ridiculous sitting in a fancy banquet hall all by herself, eating garlic smashed potatoes all in her lonesome.

After all, business tycoon parents weren't exactly home for dinner everyday.

--

Sakura was just starting on a delicious slice of chocolate mousse pie in a chocolate crust with chocolate sprinkles and a heaping scoop of chocolate ice cream on top paired with chocolate milk and Oreos when he had barged right in on her Choco-fest.

Dripping in rain and steaming with anger, Uchiha Sasuke stormed silently across the hall to his pink-haired friend, sitting down with an angry squelch from his rain-soaked pants. Scowling (as usual), he leaned his cheek on his fisted hand, propped up on his elbow. He paid no attention to the pool of water that was slowly forming around his feet.

Sakura blinked, taking in a moment to stare at the irked Uchiha, dressed in an ebony collared button up shirt, black khakis, and a mint green tie – all looking like they had gone through a car wash, a typhoon, been dragged through the Pacific Ocean, to Hell, and all the way back. "Er…."

So Sakura did the best thing a girl like her would do in her strange position. "Pie?" she offered, holding up the expensive china plate, exquisite silver fork, and enticing pie.

"I'm getting married."

The triple-e platter dropped to the floor with an obnoxious clatter.

"**WHATTT?!!?!??!!?!**"

* * *

Sakura's room had always been way too _perky_, Sasuke thought as he sat at the foot of her bed, opposite Sakura, who was perched on her pillow.

Both teenagers had changed out of their awkwardly nice clothing and into pajamas. Sakura's PJs consisted of a soft pink tank top with white pajama pants with matching pink and brown stars printed onto them.

Sasuke had taken the liberty to scrounge through Mr. Haruno's closet, option for a wonderful set of black silk 'jammies. He wouldn't miss them anyway, Sasuke figured, since he was never home to appreciate them.

Sakura slammed a fist down onto her bubblegum pink duvet, bringing him back to reality. "Uchiha Sasuke-kun!"

He spared her a flat stare.

She smiled wickedly, her green eyes taking on a glint of evil. "So who's the unlucky bride?"

She giggled a good natured smile growing on her face before she remarked again, "It must be so unfortunate to find out you're engaged right before the start of your junior year of high school. Finally an upperclassman and already taken."

Sasuke sunk a little further down into the mattress, a black rain cloud practically forming over his head.

"Well who is it?" Sakura asked, genuinely curious.

"Some girl from Sound," Sasuke quipped dully. "Supposedly her family is rich and my dick-faced father wants to merge our companies and seal it with marriage."

Sakura crinkled her nose. "That's so old fashioned! Why not just use a contract like most normal business men?"

"I already answered that. Because my father is a dick-face," Sasuke responded dryly, leaning back as he lay down, straight into the feathery duvet and Tempurpedic mattress.

Sakura sighed, lying flat on her stomach so her head was near his, propped up onto her elbows. "Hey Sasuke…?"

"Hn?"

"Why doesn't Fucka – er, I mean – _Fugaku_-san marry off Itachi instead. He's the older one, so wouldn't that make more sense (and he's the legal age to marry)?"

"The girl's only fifteen. It'd be considered pedophile."

"Mm, good point."

They laid there in thought for a while, pondering about life.

Sasuke thought about his terrible future of being married at seventeen, taking over the Uchiha empire at eighteen, and then becoming insanely rich and unhappy. (_Goddamn I'll end up like my father!_ He thought bitterly.)

Sakura on the other hand racked her brain as hard as she could to find a winning solution to Sasuke's quandary. After all, she was an amazing advice giver.

Actually, that was a lie. As wonderful as Sakura was at giving advice, during those five minutes, dear old Sakura-chan was actually thinking about what to wear on the first day of school, but eventually, she asked,

"What did your dad actually say to you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes before he buried his face into a squishy, fluffy, and somewhat degrading lavender pillow. "Mrphmmadjmphhhffff."

"Can't hear ya."

Sasuke cracked open one obsidian eye, looking up to meet Sakura's bright spring coored eyes. "He told me, and I quote, "Sasuke, you have not been attracting any female worthy enough to be the wife of the heir to the Uchiha clan. So, I have taken the liberty of choosing for you. You will be marrying Tsuchi Kin,"," he reiterated monotonously.

Sakura let out a perfectly polite and ladylike snort. "You're marrying _Kin_?" she asked, on the verge of another giggle fit.

He nodded.

The flower laughed. "Ino's going to **hate** you!"

The Uchiha shrugged. "So? That'll be a good thing."

"Not for you," Sakura shook her head, sending waves of cherry colored hair flying about. "Kin is Sound's cheerleading captain. She and Ino have a rivalry thing going on. It's quite funny, really, since they have nothing to compete about. Y'know why?"

He shook his head no slowly.

"Because the two of them are completely the same!"

Sasuke paled considerably, his skin tone rivaling the shade of a brand new white iPod. "Completely…the…same?"

Sakura nodded brightly.

"NOOOOOoOooooo!"

Being a big manly man, Sasuke did what any strong, proud boy of sixteen years old would do – he dove right underneath the fluffy cotton candy colored duvet into the manly powder pink sheets to hide from his fate.

"Toughen up, I have a plan, dumbass," Sakura told him, a triumphant smirk upon her face as she prodded the link lump that was known as Uchiha Sasuke's head.

He poked his head out from under the covers just a smidgen, showing her that he was listening.

"Your daddy said that you hadn't attracted the attention of anyone (a.k.a. a girl), right?" Sakura asked him, a look of glee gradually appearing onto her angelic face.

Sasuke nodded, sticking his head out a bit further.

"So, all we have to do is find you a girlfriend!" Sakura exclaimed, smiling at Sasuke's head. "Aren't I a genius, Sasuke-kun?!" she leaned her head next to his, grinning like she had just won a million trillion dollars.

After approximately 3.1233 seconds to let the words sink in, Sasuke immediately withdrew his head, groaning into Sakura's pillow, "Nooooo…"

Sakura rolled her eyes and hit him on the head gently. "Cheer up Sasuke-kun, we'll make this happen!"

Sasuke peeked one eye out, taking in Sakura's determined face, bright hair, doe eyes, and fair skin. The face of an angel, but the mind capacity of a scarecrow.

"Noooo…"

* * *

New story! Don't think I'm bashing Sakura my saying she has the mind of a scarecrow, because I absolutely love Sakura to bits (she's my second favorite character).

Anyway, read and review. This story should be short; only around 15 chapters.

--ANGELforSHOW--


	2. Chapter Two

* * *

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_Flower_ and **Ice**

x. Chapter Two

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* * *

"Come on!" 

"No."

"Come on!"

"No."

"Come awnnnnnn!"

"No!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she broke a piece off of Sasuke's blueberry scone, popping it into her mouth before beginning to pace the Uchiha mansion's breakfast nook once more. _Fine, see if __**I**__ ever go to Starbucks again and pick up your favorite scone with my coffee…_ she thought menacingly as she stared at the blue and white tiles as she flew over them.

Sasuke rolled his eyes as he continued to munch on his scone, thumbing through the sections of The Konoha Times as he sat at the long counter in the bar stool.

"Look, do you wanna get married or not?" Sakura asked him impatiently after another five minutes of useless, fruitless pacing. She seated herself on the other end of the counter, a good five feet down from Sasuke.

He looked up over the top of the sports section, locking eyes with her for a moment. "Shit no," he answered calmly before proceeding to read an article on his favorite baseball team.

"Then take this suggestion! I'll even pay for it," Sakura whined, angrily taking a sip of her morning caffeine source. Today was a mocha day.

"It won't work. It's stupid," Sasuke responded before dropping the sports section and moving onto the business page, flipping through quickly.

Sakura scoffed before taking an indignant sip of her drink and throwing an annoyed look at the Uchiha. "That's stupid. Just goes to show how much knowledge you have of the female species."

"I have a wonderful bank of knowledge, thank you," he replied sharply as he paused his flipping to read an article. The word 'Uchiha' had been in the large, bolded title…

"Fine, marry another Ino. See if I care."

The famous words.

Sasuke remained still and statuesque, but if one looked closely, they could see that a vein above his left eye was twitching ever-so-slightly. "…fine…" he muttered, "I'll pay."

Sakura perked up immediately, grabbing her paper coffee cup from the counter excitedly and clutching it in excitement.

"…but no pink."

Her shoulders dropped. "Damnnn."

"…"

"…"

Sakura looked down at her to-go cup. "I'll give you some peppermint chip mocha for some scone." She grinned her best smile while sloshing the contents of the cup around.

He nodded wordlessly, sending the scone sliding down to her on a napkin while receiving the paper cup at the same time, his nose still stuck in the newspaper.

"…"

"…"

"Your dad's stocks went up by three points."

"Oooh, wonderful!"

* * *

It took a full thirty-three minutes and seven seconds for Sakura's right eye to stop spazz'ming. 

"I…can't…believe it…" Sakura choked out in surprise as she sat ramrod straight in the passenger seat of Sasuke's ink black convertible, a retro Corvette that his father had kindly invested tons of money in to restore and then given to Sasuke as a sixteenth birthday present. (**A/N: Hahah, my best friend is a car buff (as he calls himself), and he said this was a lovely convertible**.)

Sasuke's scowl deepened as he turned the key in the ignition, starting up the car. "Ah, shut up," he mumbled to her as he backed expertly out of the garage, turning sharply to get around the circular driveway.

"I'm being serious!" Sakura protested, slumping down into the seat, "What kind of person only has three colors of clothing?! Black, white, and **ONE** blue shirt!" She reached down by her feet to retrieve her handbag, a wonderfully cute Dooney & Bourke.

"Me," Sasuke answered simply, flipping on his turn signal and waiting for passing cars (also driven by fellow rich people) to stop.

"Yeahhh," Sakura answered slowly, "That's not healthy. What, are you in the mafia or something?" she unzipped her bag, digging around inside for her eyeliner.

Sasuke watched her from the corner of his eye as he looked past down on the street to spot anymore oncoming vehicles. "No, I have to say that I sadly am not involved with the Italian mob, and I do not participate in their illegal activities."

"Aha!" she proudly pulled out an eyeliner pencil, "Shit, we're in a convertible…no mirror…" and with that, she stuck her nose back into her purse until she finally produced a mirror.

"You're going to poke your eye out," Sasuke warned her as he stopped smoothly at a stoplight. "Besides, why do you need to put on more? It thought you already had some on."

Sakura wisely decided to take advantage of the momentary stop to quickly draw some eyeliner onto the bottom eyelid of her right eye. "I'm fine. I've done this tons of times," she flipped over the pencil to smudge. "And I need more because it probably all washed off when I started bawling at the sight of your pitiful closet." She tapped Sasuke on the shoulder with the pencil. "I'll need to buy waterproof next time."

"Heh. Suit yourself."

"Mhmm," she mumbled back as she did her left eye. Tilting the mirror to examine her bottom eyelids, she touched up the left eye before proceeding to line her upper eyelids. After a few more moments, she took out her mascara (she found that Dior made the best eye makeup, in her opinion). A few quick swipes and she was finished.

"Honestly, Sasuke, adding some color to your wardrobe won't hurt," she told him, shaking a random blush brush at him. "I mean, I'm not in the mafia and my wardrobe has PLENTY of colors, shoes, and matching accessories to boot."

"Yeah, well, when you open the door to your closet, it feels like a rainbow monkey jumped up and bit you in the ass."

"…Thanks Sasuke, I love you too."

* * *

Sakura expertly held up a turquoise polo, shaking the wrinkles out before she shoved it against Sasuke's black (ooh, big surprise there) shirt. Cocking her head, she examined the color with his skin tone, eye color, face shape, earlobe size… 

She liked it.

"Do you like this color?" Sakura asked him, holding it up as she scanned the table next to her that held endless colors of polos.

Sasuke broke out of his emotionless stance. "No, it's fruity," he replied bluntly. "People will think I'm gay or something," he told her while glancing at the bright blue-green with contempt.

"Oh, come off it, you said that about the LAST three shirts! We're taking it," Sakura protested as she hung the polo on her arm for future use.

"That's because lavender, tangerine and salmon _are_ fruity colors," Sasuke told her flatly. "Besides, I thought we agreed on no pink."

"Salmon isn't pink, it's _orange_ with a slight, pink tinge," Sakura corrected as she moved on to the denim section.

Sasuke peered at the salmon colored polo shirt hanging off Sakura's arm, underneath the turquoise. Yep, definitely pink…

Sakura "Hmmed…" to herself quietly as she flipped through different styles of jeans. "Do you like this store?" she asked him as she examined a pair of ultra-faded, sulfur-washed ripped jeans. They were nearly white, with wonderfully placed holes scattered on the legs.

"Hn."

"Honestly, _everyone_ loves Abercrombie and Fitch," Sakura said crossly, holding up the sulfur-washed jeans next to a pair of plain, but used looking dark-wash jeans. "What size are you?"

The Uchiha tossed a look at the jeans. "I don't want those."

"Yes you do, what size?"

"They're half destroyed. Why would anyone wear ripped jeans?"

"They're fashionable. _What size_?"

"30R."

Sakura nodded as she pointed towards the dressing room. "I'm going to get some clothes too. Try everything on, and text me when you're done so I can see," she waved him off with a cheerful smile before wandering over to the women's section.

A wicked smile crossed her face as she spotted all new arrivals – jeans, tanks tops, tee shirts, knits, hoodies, skirts, tube tops, dresses, sweat pants… A promising looking clearance section was also in the back. She dug through her purse and pulled out a credit card, shining with malicious glory. This _was_ school shopping, after all…

--

"Oh – fuck!" Sakura muttered as she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. Strategically, she transferred the mess of clothing she had in her arms into her left arm, flipping open her cell phone just in time. "Hello? Oh! Hi Daddy!"

She leaned against the wall of jeans, shoving her left ear into the pile of clothes to block out the store's pounding music. "Mmhmm, I'm just shopping for school clothes with Sasuke," she said into the phone. Her eyes widened as she spotted a cute tank top.

"Yeah, I heard about his engagement. Did Fugaku-san tell you?" Sakura asked her father while dashing over to the tank top. "Of course he's trying to fight it, Daddy, he doesn't want to marry Kin…"

She flipped the tank top around examining the back. There was a bow on the side. It didn't look so appealing anymore, especially since the only color left was a sandy brown, a shade she didn't think she looked so good in.

"Alright, is there a limit you want me to spend on clothes this year?" Sakura meandered across to another table with graphic tee shirts on it. A simple tee shirt with "FITCH" on the front was calling her name…! "Okay, I won't go over $2500 then. Thanks Daddy!"

She plucked a small from the pile of shirts. "Oh…you and Mommy won't be home until next week?" she reiterated her father sadly. "Okay then, if it's for the company, then I guess it's worth it. Well, I'll talk to you later then. Love you." She paused. "Okay, love you, bye!"

Snapping her phone back shut, Sakura walked over to the dressing room. There was a huge crowd of girls around the men's dressing room, every one of the squealing with hearts in their eyes. Her phone vibrated in her hand again.

It was a text message this time. _Sakura, I'm done._

Oh dear.

Sakura looked for the dressing room attendant. "Can you hold these please?" she asked, dumping her pile of clothes in a poor attendant's arms. Without waiting for a yes or no, she raced off back to the men's dressing room.

Fighting through the girls, Sakura rolled her eyes when she heard someone scream, "Uchiha Sasuke is here! I'm SO asking him to marry me!". Looks like their plan was working anyway.

"Let me through, let me through, _best friend_ coming through," she said as she swam through the fan girls, literally moving her arms in a swimming motion in order to part people. "DEAR GO – !"

Someone had pulled her into a dressing room, a scowl on his face. "Never…againnnn," Sasuke seethed out, jabbing himself in the chest with a finger, pointing at the dark forest green logo tee he was wearing and the dark-washed jeans he had on.

Sakura shook her head. "I know! You should've worn the light jeans with that shirt," she said, with one arm crossed across her chest, the other up on its elbow, fingers lightly touching her lips, resting on the crossed arm.

"Look. Just buy this and go," Sasuke said crossly, about to pull off the shirt.

"Fine, but let me see the polos first."

Impatiently, Sasuke tugged off the tee shirt and grabbed the nearest polo he could find…which happened to be the lavender one.

Sakura giggled slightly. "You were right. It _does_ look kind of fruity."

* * *

Sasuke wore his usual scowl on the drive home. 

"Well, do you at least _like_ some of the clothes?" Sakura asked, sighing as she bemoaned the disasters of the shopping trip. There was a long pause.

"…they're ok," Sasuke finally answered, turning into the Uchiha driveway smoothly.

Sakura smiled slightly. "That's good," she stepped out of the car, making her way to the trunk. "Well, change into some of your new clothes and then come with me back to my house," she said. "I have stuff to show you, okay?"

He grunted.

Sakura assumed that was a yes.

--

"See, don't you at least _feel_ better in new clothes?" Sakura asked as she and Sasuke turned the corner of the street to get to her own house.

He decided to stay silent.

Sakura smiled. "I knew it."

"I'm never going shopping again," Sasuke muttered as he trudged up the hill to the Haruno mansion, carrying two A&F bags, one in each hand. Sakura also had two in her hands. How she had managed to buy so much in so little time was beyond him, but she had succeeded in filling four of the biggest bags available.

Sakura looked behind her shoulder at the pissed Uchiha. "Oh don't say that Sasuke-kun," she said, "We'll just shop online next time."

The color drained from his face once more.

* * *

Sasuke gratefully dropped Sakura's (heavy) shopping bags onto the plush, immaculately clean carpet in her room as she wandered over to her desk, shuffling around some papers before she produced a bright, sunshine yellow folder that was practically overflowing with papers and manilla folders that were crammed inside of it. 

"Hn?" he asked, joining her as he looked over her shoulder at the papers in the folder.

Sakura turned her head to look at Sasuke. "Oh, well, this is just a little something I borrowed from Ino," she told him while slamming the folder to a close, so cheery canary was staring up at his face instead of the white paper that had been just moments before. "Come with me to the banquet hall-dining room-thing. We need a big table."

And with a final check for all papers, Sakura dutifully tucked the folder underneath her arm and stalked purposefully out of her bedroom, a very confused and slightly annoyed Uchiha trailing behind her, just a tad afraid of what his friend had planned for him next.

--

During the walk down, Sasuke took his time to thank the heavens that his mansion was a modern day mansion. The Haruno mansion was actually a small reconstructed castle, therefore quite spacious and old looking. His mansion was even larger, but at least it was modern and, in his opinion, safer feeling than the Haruno's. Hell, Sakura lived in a house that felt like it was still going to be put under siege at any given second.

Once the duo had gone down three floors (Sakura's room was begrudgingly on the fourth floor), stopped for a chat with a maid, took a stroll through the greenhouse that was placed smack dab in the middle of the Haruno mansion, and traveled clear across to the other side of the building, they had finally settled themselves at the Haruno's long banquet table, in the enormous banquet hall that the Haruno family liked to call their dining room.

"Go stand over there by the window while I set up, will you?" Sakura requested Sasuke, pushing him towards a large bay window with cute window decorations and a cushy bench underneath.

It was more an order than a request, Sasuke grumbled to himself as he sat on the bench, staring out the window. He could see the gate that surrounded the Haruno's olympic sized swimming pool, and the roof of his own home just peeked over the tips of the trees…

"Done!"

Sakura's cheery voice rudely interrupted his sightseeing, but curiosity got the best of the Uchiha as he wandered over the table to look at what Sakura had spread out.

Sakura sat at the head of the table, a large grin on her face as she had a sign labeled "Station 1" around her neck. Looking past the pink haired girl, Sasuke could see other stations on the table.

"Hello Sasuke-kun! I'm Station One – Introduction," Sakura informed his dubious look. "As you can see there are – !"

"What are you _doing_?" Sasuke interrupted, peering over her shoulder to cast skeptical looks at the other stations.

Sakura tapped her foot impatiently on the marble floor. "Just shut it and let me finish," she told him rather unkindly, waving her hand around his face to get him to stop talking. "ANYWAY…Welcome to the Boyfriend Clinic! With just four easy steps, you can easily become the perfect boyfriend, have all the girls in a high school clinging to your arms, and defy your ass of a father! Would you like to begin?" she chirped to him as if she were the perfect infomercial.

"…"

"I'll take that as a yes!" Sakura burst out excitedly, "You have just completed Station One – Introduction, so please take a seat by Station Two!" she told him, tugging on his hand, practically dragging him towards the chair.

Sasuke glared at Sakura. "If I sit down and do your stupid clinic, will you stop talking like that?" he asked her, frustrated, as he slumped down into one of the many fancy dinner table chairs. He knew her answer would be yes.

"Yes," Sakura told him, smiling slightly as she, opened the manilla folder sitting in between them on the table. "Alright, well one thing all girls like about a guy is appearance. Don't call us shallow," she said, wagging a finger at him, "Because it's the same for everyone."

Sasuke resisted the urge to toss in a "Shallowww," keeping his lips firmly pressed together.

"So," Sakura continued, spreading out bits of paper on the table, "Ino and I worked together to print as many different clothes off the internet so you can learn how to match them," she said, demonstrating by holding up a tiny paper doll that looked remarkably like Sasuke. Little shirts, pants, jackets, shoes, and even socks were scattered all over the table, perfect for chibi Sasuke.

"No."

Sakura looked up with a confused look. "What?"

"I will not dress up a paper doll," Sasuke deadpanned. "It will give everyone within three million light years to mock me for the rest of eternity."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I think you're exaggerating just a tad, dontcha think? Besides, look how CUTE this is!" she smiled contentedly as she attached a pair of black jeans, a red thermal, and some Converse (All Stars, high tops, o' course) to the paper Sasuke.

"I. Don't. Play. With. Dolls." Sasuke told her slowly, the words seething out slowly through clenched teeth.

Sakura shrugged, "It's your call," she told him, setting the paper doll on the table, "I'm sure Kin can pick out matching clothes for you. I mean, her type seems to love clothes. Just look at Ino!" She flashed him a brief, toothy smile before going back to dressing the paper doll.

And that folks, was why for a good half hour that afternoon, Uchiha Sasuke was playing with a paper doll.

* * *

"Good job on Station Two, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura complimented her friend. "You really got the coloring basics down really well!" 

Sasuke sat there, eyes narrowed to bored slits, lips thinned to an angry line, sulking.

"Now for Station Three! Here, we will have a friendly chat about the Do's and Don'ts of girls, dating, and – as Naruto calls it – "Picking Up a Hawt Chick"," Sakura recited to Sasuke dutifully, cringing slightly at the last part. She looked at Sasuke, expecting a reaction of some sort: a cringe, a "Hn.", an eye roll, anything!

He blinked.

Sakrua sighed, "_Eeeasy_ killer," she replied to his silence with an eye roll.

He blinked.

--

"Alright, here's the section that'll interest you," Sakura told Sasuke while flipping some papers back through her thick packet of Girl Tips. She and Ino had used the booklet on Naruto back when he had been too chicken to ask Hinata ask.

"Hn?"

"It's the tips that Ino and I added after we saw Naruto and Hinata's first date," Sakura drawled out with an amused smirk. "Number One – When on a date with a girl, DO NOT, and I repeat, DO NOT try to pick your nose when she's not looking."

Sasuke snorted. He remembered Naruto doing that. Him, Shikamaru, Gaara, and a (grudging) Neji had watched that date from behind the bushes as well as Sakura and Ino. Hinata had looked away for the waiter for just a quick second and Naruto took advantage of the moment, ducking underneath the table for a quick "nose itch".

"Number Two – Go on the date, and get something that does not happen to be instant noodles," Sakura read out loud while slapping a hand to her face. That had not been a pretty sight.

"Number Three – BRING ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY FOR THE GIRL _**AND**_ YOU." Sakura stated so loudly, Sasuke was sure that even Naruto could hear her.

He rolled his eyes, a small wry smile barely touching his features.

"Number Four…"

Sasuke's smirk disappeared, replaced with a look of boredom. Obviously, Naruto had manymanymany date quirks.

--

"Last station, you excited?!" Sakura prompted her friend as they got up and walked a few more chairs over to Station Four.

"Yeah, excited to get out of here," Sasuke muttered to himself.

"Ahaha, very funny, now, sit down," Sakura replied sarcastically, flipping open her laptop and jabbing at the power button in irritation. Immediately, the white MacBook lit up to life with a magical "Pinnggggg". (**A/N: D00dz, MacBooks are the best. –Hugs laptop.-)**

Sakura smirked as she clicked on the Firefox button, waiting for the internet window to pop up. Typing into her address bar, she waited for the quiz to load before turning the computer to face Sasuke.

He looked at the web page. It turned out to be a quiz, one that was entitled "**How to Identify Your Ideal Girl**". Sakura's smiling face hovered over the top of the laptop screen.

"I had Ino make this especially for you," she told him, "she's a beast with Quizilla."

Sasuke eyed the web quiz distastefully. No internet quiz could predict something as personal and intimate as that. After all, he had seen those quizzes. Sakura and Ino were obsessed with them a few years back, and the most thoughtful and personal question that was asked was usually, "What is your favorite color?" or, more accurately, "Wat iz ur fave color?"

"Go get 'em tiger," Sakura told him, patting his shoulder a couple times from across the table before sitting back down and taking out a summer reading book. She really ought to try and finish reading them before school started…in two days.

Meanwhile, Sasuke stared at the computer screen, starting his quiz.

_Question One: What is your personality/clique? (Check all that apply.)_

_A. Depressed/Emo/Goth.  
B. Athletic/Jocks.  
C. Popular.  
D. Girl MAGNET. (You have a fanclub.)  
E. Skater.  
F. Rocker._

With a twitchy, annoyed lip, Sasuke checked B, C, F, and D.

_Question Two: What hair color do you prefer on a girl? (Check all that apply.)_

_A. Blonde!!!  
B. Brown.  
C. Black.  
D. Red.  
E. Something exotic._

He clicked on the boxes next to B, C, and E. Something exotic probably meant pink like Sakura, and he had the feeling that she would know what his answers were… He also made sure to avoid A at all costs.

_Question Three: What personality do you look for in a girl? (Check all that apply.)_

_A. Bubbly and happy.  
B. Sad and suicidal.  
C. Aggressive and mean.  
D. Down to earth and sarcastic.  
E. Carefree and intelligent._

D and E were the best options, he decided.

_Question Four: Which name appeals most to you? (Check all that apply.)_

_A. Ino.  
B. Tenten.  
C. Hinata.  
D. Sakura._

Sasuke decided to check B, C, _and_ D, just to piss Ino off. Now, on to question five…

--

After a good half hour, Sasuke was finally finished filling in the exhausting and dreadfully long survey.

"Yamanka sure knows how to right lengthy results," Sasuke muttered to himself as he scrolled down the screen to see a good paragraph on his "ideal girl". He glanced across the table. Sakura was curled up in her seat sleeping, her book still open and resting against the table. He couldn't blame her though. That's what Shakespeare did to a LOT of people.

With a long, lingering gaze and a warm, concealed smile, his eyes slowly returned to the screen to read his results.

_Your ideal girl is a rare kind. She is happy and cheerful, yet intelligent, down to earth, sarcastic, and with a great sense of humor. She has exotic features; beautiful and classy. She is the whole package – athletic, smart, pretty, funny, and talented. She cares about appearance, but not so much that she's obsessed. She is surrounded by many friends, and lives to help others with their problems, though often forgetting about her own. Caring and understanding, she's the ideal pick for someone when they're in a knot. She's one-of-a-kind, and this paragraph is barely enough to even begin describing her. For you to find her is great luck, and should you ever discover your true feelings for her, hold on to her and never let go._

_Deeeeep…_Sasuke thought to himself sarcastically. No girl like that existed. She seemed way too perfect…too _ideal_. But…somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that it was possible.

Shutting the laptop lid quietly, he gathered up all the folders for the stations, and crammed them back into the slap-you-in-the-face yellow folder, setting the laptop delicately on top before gathering everything in his arms.

Grabbing the first maid he saw, he asked her to take the pile up to Sakura's room, tossing two dollars at her as an afterthought before he returned to the banquet hall.

Carefully, he gathered Sakura up in his arms, carrying her quietly up to her bedroom. For a well-respected, muscled athlete like him, her 115 lbs. frame was absolutely nothing to him as he strolled through the refurnished castle purposefully.

Gently laying her down on the pink sheets of her queen sized bed; Sasuke folded the top blanket over her once before sitting down on the loveseat she had in her room, picking up "1984". He had to finish the last few chapters, and George Orwell couldn't wait forever.

But it must have been something.

Perhaps the cool temperature of the room (perfect for dozing), or maybe it was the deep, whisper-soft breaths that Sakura took that made Sasuke's eyelids droop slowly to a close.

The last thing he saw was her face though, a content smile upon it, the image burned into his mind as he realized he was pretty damn happy right now.

* * *

Eek, that was an obnoxiously bad ending. Sorry guys. 

I tried to update sooner, but parents, life, summer, etc. got in the way. Which is why I'm up at 7:00 AM updating this. And doing my hair at the same time. xD

Anyway, review, s'il vous plait! I was pleasantly shocked from the response I got to this from the first chapter.

**Update: **I fixed the quiz part when I got back this morning. I didn't realize that the editor took out the "A, B, C, etc" lettering. Sorry!

--ANGELforSHOW--


	3. Chapter Three

* * *

-

_Flower_ and **Ice**

x. Chapter Three

-

* * *

Aside from Sasuke, Sakura had two other best friends.

The lucky two happened to be Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata, who were, in her opinion, two of the most fabulous women on earth. Ino and Sakura were an odd pair. They both seemed too loud, too bold, too _obnoxious_ to be best friends, but they were. When they were together, the loudness and intensity of them just skyrocketed. Which is why shy, quiet, sweet little Hinata was with them. She was what balanced them out. She was like the mediating glue when Ino and Sakura clashed too much. But deep inside of her, she also knew how to have fun.

Which is why when the three of them were with each other, they always had one hell of a time together.

Today was an eventful day for the trio. It happened to be the InoHinaSaku "OMGGGZZzzzZZZZ SH00000PP, TiiiLLL W33 DROPPPZZZzzzZZ!!!" before school shopping spree – an event so frightening and spectacular that every cashier in Leaf Mall eagerly shooed away loitering, "browsing" customers as soon as they spotted the first sign of roseate hair, heard the cute uncertainty of a particular Hyuuga, or caught a whiff of Ino's fragrant Chanel Gardénia perfume.

The three saved up two months worth of allowance especially for it – leaving each of them with a grand sum of around $10,000 of spending money for this one day.

So, armed with only a tiny, fashionable, lightweight purse and a credit card each, the trio walked eagerly towards the giant mall doors, smirks growing larger on their faces with every step.

--

Konoha's local and fabulous Leaf Mall had four wings – North, South, East, and West. In between each wing of the cross-shaped shopping mall, were fountains and bathrooms. While in the middle, joining it all together was a large food court. However, each wing was equipped with the one essential store for every mall go-er: a Starbucks.

Starbucks – the small café was not just the java joint. On the contrary, it provided sanctuary for those with tired, shopped-out feet, small snacks and drinks for those who didn't want to stop for lunch, offered adorable mugs for sale (great last minute presents), was a slightly quieter area that usually had cell service, sold caffeine pick-me-ups, and, most importantly, it was wonderful planning area.

Which was why Ino, Sakura, and Hinata were currently crammed at a small table in the North Wing's Starbucks, the latter two listening intently to Ino as the blonde laid out the trip's shopping plan.

Sakura yawned while she picked at the hem of her red and white Hawaiian printed shirt dress, listening to Ino do her pre-shopping lecture about the importance of buying good quality, maybe even cheap (under $100 items) clothing that would not destroy their hard-earned reputation. Reaching up, she tightened the folded, ivory colored eyelet fabric that she had put in her hair as a headband.

Ino glanced at her in the midst of her "Don't buy all risqué clothing!" speech. "Sakura, stop fidgeting," she snapped, as her azure eyes scanned the paper in front of her.

Sakura discreetly slid her hand down to her shin, scratching at an itch underneath the black lace trim of her ebony leggings. Looking out the corner of her eye, she saw Hinata stifle a yawn while Ino was looking over her shoulder at a random whistle that had been directed towards her.

Clearing her throat, Ino sipped her bottle of vanilla Frappuccino delicately before flipping the page of her stapled papers with a flourish. "A-hem."

Sakura looked up from the Teen Vogue magazine she had been reading, under the cover of the table, while Hinata lazily raised her lavender eyes to meet Ino.

The blonde grinned a mischievous smirk that rivaled Paris Hilton's paparazzi smile. "And now," she said, pausing for dramatic effect, "Our shopping list for today."

Slapping the notebook paper down onto the café table she jabbed her finger at each store as she spoke. "We'll be shopping at the following locations today," she said with authority, handing out two extra copies of the lists she had put together the night before.

Sakura's eyes widened with appreciation as they ran down the column of stores. "Good call Ino," she said softly, as she spotted several brands such as Juicy Couture and Tiffany.

Hinata "Mmm…"'d softly as she looked over the list as well, a smile touching her lips when she saw "Chanel" and "Diesel".

Ino watched her pleased friends happily, taking the moment to start cleaning up their small café table. Stuffing napkins into her empty Frappuccino glass, she mused over the fact that normally she would _never_ clean. It was just the anticipation of being able to spend so much time with her two best friends again.

Over the summer, Ino had been in France, watching over her father's newest garden exhibits.

Hinata was in Australia, taking a well-earned family vacation with the entire Hyuuga mob.

And poor Sakura was trapped in Japan, with only a giant pool, endless money, and Shakespeare to accompany her.

Ino's grin spread wider as she tossed the disposed paper cups and napkins into a nearby trash bin. Sakura and Hinata were finished going over the list, and the best day of the year was about to start for her.

* * *

Six hours and $30,000 later, the trio collapsed gratefully into Ino's car, the BMW piled to the brim with shopping bags.

Bloomindales, Tiffany, Dior, Juicy, A&F, A.E., Hollister, Delia's, Aldo, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, H&M, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Urban Outfitters, Diesel, DKNY, Lacoste, Versace, J.Crew, Gap, Express, Burberry, Banana Republic, Prada – they had hit them all, and at least one of them had been able to get something from every store they had entered.

It was quite a feat for anyone.

Ino started up the car, beaming, as she said, "Well, I think we all accomplished something fabulous today?"

All of them gave a holler in agreement; giggling as Ino pulled out of the parking lot and drove them all home.

* * *

After snipping all the tags off her new clothes and tossing it all into the wash, Sakura flopped lazily back onto her bed, pulling out her cell phone and opening up a new text message. She giggled in excitement as she did so.

In addition to new clothes at the mall, Sakura had also treated herself to a new cell phone – a Sidekick ID. Now she could text supah fast for only $1 a day!

_Did you read Romeo and Juliet yet?_ She typed in, sending it to Sasuke.

She had to finish reading the stupid play. She HAD to finish all the work for it, write the speech on it, and do the character analyses. She WOULD finish!

Pulling out a thick book filled with all of Shakespeare's works, Sakura slowly opened the book to page 294, where she left off.

…and promptly slammed the book shut.

Sakura glanced out the window. The sun was still out, bright and warm, and the faintest breeze rustled through the wind. A flash of blue caught her eye – her swimming pool.

She looked at her book, and then at the pool again. It _was_ a nice day…

Shrugging, she picked up her Sidekick again, and scrolled through her contacts list (just for kicks though – she had memorized Sasuke's phone number years ago), calling him this time.

"Please enjoy this song while we direct your call towards the party you wish to reach."

The mechanical, tinny voice of the fake operating woman told Sakura politely as soon as her call was processed. A rock song blared through the speaker immediately afterward.

"Hn." Sasuke's bored, uninterested, noise answered her.

"Oi, Sasuke-kun."

"Hn?" His tone seemed 0.000000001 percent friendlier, but Sakura could detect it.

"I'm bored," Sakura told him, as if she expected him to do something about it. "What are you doing?" she rolled over onto her back, enjoying how the plush memory foam of her mattress sunk in just the right amount.

"Summer reading," the Uchiha answered flatly, "Something you should be doing too," he pointed out.

There was rustling over the line. Sakura assumed that he flipped the page or something.

The pink haired girl listened to the dead silence of her house. Aside from a few clock, nothing could be heard. "Hey, uh Sasuke?" she asked slightly timidly.

"Hn?"

She curled up a little in her bed, kicking one of her stuffed animals in the process. "D'you think I could go over there and work with you? My parents aren't going to be home for a while, and today is all the maids and worker's day off, and it's all quiet and stuff," she rambled for a bit. "…please?"

"Itachi's here for the day. I think I'll go over there," Sasuke told her, standing up and shutting his papers into his books.

Sakura smiled so brightly that Sasuke felt it over the phone. "Ok!" she looked outside again. Working didn't have to be THAT boring… "I'll be at the pool. Just come through that gate."

Sasuke "Hn."'ed in agreement again, and then the line closed.

Sakura grinned as she tossed her composition book, two pencils, and the Shakespeare book into a pile on her bed before running into her closet to find a bikini so she could get the hell outside.

She hummed as she changed into her swimming suit and sprayed some sun block on, gathering her books up into her arms and practically skipping to her pool.

* * *

"How would you analyze Tybalt?" Sakura asked Sasuke, tapping a pencil to her bottom lip as she printed "Tybalt – Capulet House" at the top of the page in neat handwriting.

"He was an ass."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "You can't – he wasn't – but he – …okay, you're right," she sighed, scribbling down some intelligent sounding words. "Let me see your analysis on him."

Sasuke handed over his plain black spiral notebook, taking the free moment to take a sip of the strawberry lemonade Sakura had brought out. He opened up Mozilla Firefox on his black MacBook, going to his bookmarks and opening up the "No Fear Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet" page on SparkNotes. It was a modern English translation of Shakespeare (heinous) play, and he skimmed Act 3, looking for something to say about Mercutio.

Sakura on the other hand, rested her cheek in her hand as she read Sasuke's analysis page.

"_Tybalt, from the Capulet House, is a fiery character whose short tempter often spurs fights and violent disagreements between he and the Montague family members, Mercutio and Benvolio. Tybalt is easily provoked, having the shortest fuse out of all the characters of Romeo and Juliet, and often causes trouble in town. During the play, Tybalt kills Mercutio, another hot-headed man, from the Montague house. Tybalt is quick to point out trouble (for example, at the Capulet's ball when Romeo shows up), and has a fierce loyalty to his House and family._"

Which, when you picked through the unnecessary words and fancy vocabulary, translated to "Tybalt was a bitch who acted as if he had a sword shoved up his ass 24/7."

Sakura shrugged before writing down more sentences about Tybalt and his temper, extending her left arm out to Sasuke, offering him his notebook back.

"…okay…now do you understand what actually _caused_ that fight between Tybalt and Mercutio…?" she asked, flipping the pages of her Shakespeare book, "Because I certainly don't…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes before shoving his computer in front of her face. "Just read."

* * *

"A-hem…M-miss Haruno?"

Sakura swiveled her head around, whipping pink hair in a full circle, her eyes settled on a young maid around her age. The maid was blushing madly, most likely from the sight of seeing Sasuke in only his (black) swimming trunks.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, resisting the urge to laugh at the maid's tomato red face.

The maid held up a scarlet colored plastic garment bag, the hanger of whatever clothing inside of the bag dangling on three of her fingers. "This arrived for you in the mail today…"

Sakura's eyebrows crinkled together in confusion as her lips pursed over to the side. "Okay?" she lifted herself out of her beach chair, walking over slowly to meet the maid. Likewise, the maid also walked towards the Haruno, meeting her halfway.

Sakura took the garment bag, and thanked the maid with a brief flash of her white teeth in a quick smile.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, bored, as he set down Romeo and Juliet, opting to start 1984. He wanted to finish 1984 by the end of today, before he had to move on to The Jungle, a bizarre and grotesque, but scarily accurate book about meat factories in the Industrial Revolution.

Sakura set the crimson garment bag down flat onto the surface of another unoccupied table. "It's…from school," she said, noticing the Konoha High School symbol drawn in white at the top right corner of the bag. The familiar leaf logo popped out quickly, with the solitary swirl and triangle, creating a rustic looking leaf.

She unzipped the bag. "No. Fucking. Way," she swore, ripping the letter attached to the clothing away quite violently.

Sasuke stood up and joined her, reading over his friend's shoulder as she read the letter out loud.

"_Dear Ms. Haruno,_

_We hope you are enjoying your last week of summer. Soon, we'll be back to school!_

_Enclosed inside of this garment bag is a new tradition we are starting from this year. For this moment on, we will be starting to wear uniforms! Our staff has decided that in order to ease peer pressure and cease the existent of "cliques" and "the popular crowd", by dressing all of the students the same, our student body will finally be united and segregation amongst our students will be abolished._

_Within this bag you should have received:_

_x. Two (2) white shirts. (Women's Small)  
x. Two (2) red and black plaid skirts. (Women's Size 2)  
x. One (1) black winter blazer. (Women's Small)_

_Appropriate shoes must be worn, and shoes and stockings must be black colored._

_Other accessories such as jewelry (earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets, etc), hats, etc. may be worn, but may be confiscated at the staff's convenience._

_We look forward to seeing you come September 3__rd_

_Best Regards,_

_Konoha High School Staff"_

Sakura finished the letter, a pregnant pause between her and Sasuke before realization hit. "I'm gonna need more shoes…" Sakura muttered, looking at the uniform with distaste. She felt the articles of clothing, wrinkling her nose when she felt the crisp, cotton dress shirts and itchy looking plaid skirts.

"A uniform is _worse_ then you dragging me out to go shop…" Sasuke mumbled under his breath, taking out his cell phone. Flipping it open, he called his house's worker quarters immediately. "A red bag with clothes in it should have arrived today, bring it to the Haruno residence now," Sasuke barked into the phone, clearly annoyed at the prospect of uniforms.

Within ten minutes, the same maid had come back, bearing another red garment bag. "This is for Mr. Uchiha…" she mumbled shyly, timidly giving Sasuke his uniform.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck…" Sakura cursed, unzipping Sasuke's garment bag while he was still holding it. A similar uniform to hers, except masculi-fied, was inside. Black dress plants with white dress shirts. Two red ties were hung around the hanger as well.

"What?" Sasuke asked. Sakura didn't say "fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck" without a reason. Usually, anyway.

"If we're all dressed the same, no one will notice you…then you'll have to marry Kin, therefore effectively fucking up our plan," Sakura told him. She gathered her bubblegum colored hair into a quick, sloppy bun. "I need to think of something else if we want to save your face."

She strode over to the hot tub purposefully, turning the switch on for the bubbles and water jets before she slipped in. "Let's take a break…"

Sasuke shrugged, before tossing himself into the pool. It was ungodly hot out today anyway. He emerged completely soaked, only his head bobbing in and out of the cool, cerulean water.

Sakura was busy racking her brains in the hot tub, so she wasn't speaking. Instead, she was completely submerged in the water, save her nose, eyes, and the top half of her head. The only noise she made was an occasional cough when bubbles found their way up her nose.

After floating around on his back for a bit, Sasuke got up and decided to join Sakura in the hot tub. It was boring to swim without anyone to talk to.

Stepping into the foamy water, the Uchiha monotonously sat down across from Sakura, lowering his head down into the warm water so his eyes were level with Sakura.

He saw the corners of her eyes crinkle just slightly, a sign that she had smiled.

Dipping his head into the water, he enjoyed the sensation of warm water flowing over his entire body. Underwater, he saw where all the water jets were. Sakura was sitting in front of one, her thin torso slightly away from the wall of the Jacuzzi bath. Shifting over two inches to the left, Sasuke felt another jet of water pound at his back. His lips curling up just slightly, he lifted his head out from the water again, shaking hair away from his face.

Sakura looked at him, amused. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, seeing Uchiha Sasuke looking like a drowned Cousin It.

Sasuke scowled slightly, as he brushed his side bang things off to the side and re-chicken-butted his hair (making it stick out so it looks like a chicken ass).

That was it…

"Sasuke, you can get a hair cut!" Sakura cried victoriously, her head shooting out of the water just as she started speaking. "Ackk!" she coughed, spitting hot tub water out of her mouth and lungs.

"No," Sasuke answered flatly.

"But – !"

"No!"

"Come awnnnnnn!"

"NO!"

Sakura sighed and slid back under water. Sasuke watched her in amusement, as a few angry bubbles floated to the top of the water and popped, splashing in Sakura's face. He smirked.

"You suck, Sasuke," Sakura told him crossly, sticking her head out of the water before sinking in again.

Sasuke shrugged. "Happens."

* * *

I've been majorly bogged down with summer reading lately. I finished everything this morning though, which is why I'm updating now. It's been more than a month. Sorry, sorry…

Um, yeah. All these brand names are copyrighted, yadda yadda yadda.

The next chapter should be fun – I'm going to start writing it right away. Review, lovies! x)

_--ANGELforSHOW--_


	4. Chapter Four

* * *

-

_Flower_ and **Ice**

x. Chapter Four

-

* * *

The clock read 5:00 AM. 

Even when she was only half-conscious, Sakura still had enough life in her to curse school and it's too-early start time.

She had to be at school at 7:30…and it took at least twenty minutes to get to Konoha High School.

Distantly in her foggy, sleep clouded mind, Sakura mused over how Leaf School for Girls, the local public high school started half an hour later…perhaps she should transfer for the sake of her beauty sleep?

Shaking that notion out of her mind, Sakura dragged herself out of bed, stumbling into the bathroom that was connected to her bedroom and flicking on the lights.

Bright, bare balls of light illuminated to life, the light bulbs fringing the vanity mirror.

After taking a quick stop to relieve her bladder, she turned the tap on in the shower, taking a minute to try and untangle her hair in it's natural state – soft, twisting, cotton candy curls that had the tendency to get too frizzy too quickly.

Stepping into the shower, Sakura felt her mind slowly wake up and relished the feeling of hot water against her skin.

A Paul Mitchell shampoo and conditioning, a body scrub, and a face exfoliation later, Sakura emerged from the shower stall, clean, refreshed, awake, and ready to take on 11th grade with zeal.

Clad in only her underwear, Sakura walked out into her bedroom, steam happily puffing out from the washroom behind her. Sakura grimaced when she pulled out the uniform Konoha High had sent her. Although she had thought hopelessly for hours with Ino and Hinata on how to improve the dull clothing, they had come up with nothing except for loads of accessories.

Pursing her lips, Sakura pulled on a pair of plain black leggings that ended just an inch or so past her knees, trimmed with black lace. Wriggling into the skirt and pulling the crisp white dress shirt onto her thin torso, Sakura contemplated her clothing for a moment, analyzing it with a critical eye.

She would accessorize later, she decided, wandering back into her bathroom and turning on the super-effective but very quiet ceiling fan so the steam would fade. Standing at an empty part of the long counter in front of the Hollywood mirror, Sakura scanned the hair and makeup products that were scattered on the section of counter in front of her. Wiping away the last bits of steam from the mirror, Sakura looked at herself.

There she was, a girl with freakishly colored hair, a slightly-too-large forehead, and bags underneath her eyes already. The girl was dressed in a stiff looking private school uniform, but in her green eyes, fire burned. She was ready.

Patting her face dry on a towel, Sakura moisturized with an oil-free lotion, and then pulled out her BareEscentuals bareMinerals mineral powder box. Swirling the fine, costly powder up into the 'flawless application face brush', she swept on her 'SP 15 Foundation' powder, making sure to do this twice. Then, she applied the bronzer ('Warmth') a blush ('Clear Radiance') and the final touch (the 'Mineral Veil').

(**A/N: **_That mineral powder is fabulous! I use it, aha_)

Digging through some lip liners, Sakura found the pencil she needed, a very subtle dark pink. After tracing her lips, she filled in the 'blank canvas' with a soft shade of pink.

Sakura smirked. It was her favorite part now – eye time!

Using the usual DiorShow mascara and crayon eyeliner, she smudged the eyeliner just the slightest bit for a smokier effect. Brandishing an eyelash curler, she clamped and conquered, shaping her now-dark lashes perfectly.

Makeup finished, Sakura moved on to her hair.

She had tossed her cotton candy hair up into a turban, letting the ringlets towel dry on her own while she had changed and gotten ready. Plugging in her straightening iron, she turned it on and set it at the right heat gauge. Setting a towel across her shoulders to catch the water, Sakura pulled the fluffy white towel off her head, quickly tossing her head back when damp curls came falling towards her face.

Towel drying as well as she could, she blew dry her hair until it was barely damp. After all, straightening your hair wet was one of the worse things you could ever do – it absolutely _fried_ it, as Ino had learned the hard way in seventh grade.

Running the iron through her hair, she completed the straightening task in fifteen minutes, her hair smooth, pin-straight, and glossy at the end.

Sakura glanced at the clock above her mirror. 6:15.

Walking back to her room, Sakura wandered over to the jewelry boxes on her dresser, and put on her usual jewelry first, a heart-toggle Tiffany necklace and a diamond encrusted ring around her left middle finger. She looked straight ahead at the mirror posted behind the dresser, taking in the red and black of her drab uniform. With those colors in mind, Sakura hung black chandelier earrings from her first holes, and then ruby studs in her seconds. She put a diamond stud in the cartilage piercing.

With a bit of thought, Sakura tied her usual white-lace eyelet headband around her head, letting it part her hair as it normally would be parted. Slipping into comfortable black suede ballet flats, she did a final check over of her appearance in the mirror.

Gone was the flawed, large fore headed girl, and in was the saucy, perfect Haruno Sakura that everyone loved. Her uniform had been spiced up, her accessories perfected, and many would envy her hair. Makeup perfect, and shoes on foot, she was ready.

Grabbing her Dooney & Bourke small duffle bag (real bookbags were so _out_), she stepped out of the comfort of her room, and into her life for the next 180 days.

* * *

"Okay mom, I'll call you after school sometime," Sakura said to her mother through the speakerphone while she chewed through her breakfast. Nervous butterflies were fluttering around her stomach. Halfway through her scrambled eggs, Sakura had given up and opted for the doughnut instead. 

"Sweetie, do try to have a good time today," Mrs. Haruno told her daughter fondly through the speaker. "I'm sorry daddy and I weren't there to wish you off, but the business needed us here…" she said sadly.

Licking a sprinkle off her finger, Sakura sighed, "It's okay mom, I'll be fine. I'll call you and tell you about my schedule and teachers and stuff, I promise," she smiled slightly at the speakerphone.

"Miss Haruno, Mr. Uchiha is here," an elderly maid wheezed to her as she passed by, scooping up the half empty plate. Sasuke was at her elbow.

"Thanks Midori," Sakura told her with a brief smile. "Ma, it's time to go. Sasuke's here. I'll talk to you later," she told the speaker.

Sakura's mother paused for just a slight fraction of a second. "Ah! Oh, hello Sasuke dear," Mrs. Haruno told the Uchiha, a smile visible in her voice. "Well, you two have fun at your first day of school. Kisses." She hung up.

Sakura shrugged off the feeling of suspicion that had aroused, waving it off as nervousness. "Are you ready?" she asked the Uchiha airily, picking up her tote/bookbag.

Sasuke nodded.

Sakura threw a glance at him. "Nice outfit," she snorted. Sasuke rolled his eyes and scowled. He was dressed in the outfit he had (unwilling) received in the mail: a stiff white collared button-down shirt, a pair of pressed black slacks, and a bright red tie. He had a subtle way to rebel though – on his feet were a pair of black and white Converse with red stitching. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone, showing a clean white beater, a bit of chiseled chest, and a necklace of large, plain silver beads. Hair as messy as ever, even Sakura admitted he was freaking sexy.

"Likewise," Sasuke replied dryly. Sakura's skirt was a _little_ too short, her shirt was a _little_ too tight, and her Dior-enhanced eyes were a _little_ too seductive.

Both of them shaking the thoughts out of their heads, they unanimously headed for the front drive in silence.

Maybe some coffee would clear those unnatural thoughts from their minds.

* * *

"Sakura, hey girl!" 

"Yo, Sasuke!"

"Hey you two!"

"Ay bay bay!"

"Ooooh…"

The moment the duo had pulled into Konoha High's parking lot (Sasuke had driven his chrome colored BMW today), they had literally been attacked.

Sasuke had anyway – if it wasn't for his amazing dexterity, the piping hot soy latte he had just picked up from Starbucks would've been all over the nice leather seats of his car.

Of course, Sakura had her fair share of admirers, but Ino was the most popular in her group. Students just seemed to like the loud, busty, blonde more than the pink haired doll of the group.

After a quick goodbye and mutter of meeting him for lunch, Sakura dashed off to find Ino and Hinata.

Sasuke proceeded to go search for his own friends.

After filling in Ino and Hinata on the latest details of the "Save Sasuke!" Plan, the trio had bumped into Temari and Tenten, two seniors on the lacrosse team, said a quick hello, and then struggled through the bursting crowd of black, white, and red, determined to find their homeroom assignments.

Ten minutes later, they were happily on their way to homeroom.

* * *

There was honestly only one way Sakura could ever describe the first day of school…_boring, boring, _and _boring!_

She really didn't care about the class rules and procedures. Yes, she did know that she had to wear a stinking uniform everyday. Of course, they all knew _not to feed the birds_ that roamed – er, flew – over campus. It obvious that it was in your best interest not to taste the neon green, radioactively active chemicals in science class…so why did teachers have to go over obvious facts and regulations?

Repeat eight times, and you had Sakura's first day of school.

Homeroom was remotely interesting – they had run down uniform rules, basic school policy, and their schedules had been passed out.

Sakura grimaced at the thought of her 11th grade schedule. The cheery cream-colored paper had kindly told her:

**::Period/Class/Teacher/Room Number::**

01. Honors Chemistry – Mitarashi Anko, Rm. 101  
02. Honors US History – Hatake Kakashi, Rm. 237  
03. AP Calculus – Sarutobi Asuma, Rm. 129  
04. French IV – Yuuhi Kurenai, Rm. 419  
05. AP English 11 – Maito Guy, Rm. 286  
06. Free Period  
07. AP Psychology – Morino Ibiki, Rm. 300  
08. Art – Deidara, Art Studio

Her first period teacher, Anko was remarkably crude. She had carelessly gone over the class rules, kindly telling them that if they were stupid enough to eat chemical waste, it was not her problem. In the end though, she smiled crookedly as she waved them off, cackling when a student accidentally knocked a beaker off the counter, slipping on the broken shards of glass, before calling the nurse.

At first, Sakura thought she would never get to see her second period teacher. But later, she realized that Hatake Kakashi was just extremely unpunctual, lazy to the core, and had a soft spot for porn novels. Without lifting his eyes from his book, he had told them that they would need a binder with dividers, a pencil and some paper, and that he would assign their textbook to them…eventually.

AP Calculus was a tiny class. Only Sakura, Sasuke, Shikamaru (Ino's boyfriend), and a handful of seniors had signed up for it. Asuma, their teacher was rather mellow and smelled a little too much like tobacco. He had gotten them started quickly, whipping through the grading policy and classroom rules before starting them off with Pre-Calc review worksheets.

Her fourth period class, French IV, was small as well. Only two years of foreign language was required, so her class size had shrunken dramatically since freshman year. On her and three other girls were in the class. Kurenai told them that there was only one rule – everything had to be spoken in French. Other than that, they had new vocabulary tests every other week, and the second half of the period was devoted to gossiping.

AP English 11 was remarkably boring. Her teacher, Gai-sensei was a total nutcase with a fondness for spandex, and like many of her other classes, it was a small class size. She had wisely spent her time talking to Sasuke and his best friend, Uzumaki Naruto, a loveable, loud, blond idiot.

Next was lunch, then free period.

Free period she spent roaming the halls with Ino and Hinata, darting from classroom to classroom to say hello to people. Sasuke had a mandatory soccer team meeting to attend.

AP Psychology was by far Sakura's most interesting class. Her teacher, Morino Ibiki was eerily serious and had started the class by ripping off his head covering and saying, "I'm Morino Ibiki, and welcome to AP Psychology – the study of the MIND." His baldhead was covered with partially healed abrasions, scars, ridges, and dents. "Many people will do _anything_ to get to know everything about the human mind." Sakura could tell that Ibiki was a passionate teacher, even having a doctorate degree in Psychology.

Her last class of the day was art. It was a great end to her day, and her teacher was an attractive young man who had just graduated from college. Diedara was young, energetic, and artistically fresh. Sakura was especially drawn to how artsy and refined his own personal features were – white-blond hair that covered half of his face, the other half of which was pulled up, shockingly pale blue eyes, speckled with silver, almost-white skin that glowed, and high cheekbones that made him seem aristocratic. He was completely godlike at first glance – until he starting throwing darts at paint-filled balloons tacked onto the wall, splattering every student with paint in the process. Luckily, it was washable.

It had been a relatively good first day…except for lunch.

--

It was right after AP English – Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto had left the classroom, talking about classes and such.

They came like a flood: quick, unwanted, and frankly, quite annoying – Sasuke's Fanclub girls.

Crowding around him, they had quickly torn Sasuke away from the conversation he was currently participating in, dragging him off to the lunchroom. "Sasuke, sit with us!" "Do you want to wait in line with me?" "Hey, you look like you got some _sun_ over the summer!" (Sakura and Naruto snorted. Sasuke was pale as a sheet.) "C'mon sweetie, let's go!"

Rather peeved, Sakura stood with Naruto behind the literal cloud of dust (they were walking from the English building outside to the dining hall).

"Don't they make you sick?" Sakura muttered to Naruto, sneezing dust out of her nose and fixing her disarrayed hair with impatient swipes.

Naruto sighed, gazing after Sasuke with sea-blue eyes. "I wish _I_ had a fanclub…" he mumbled.

Sakura hit him impatiently in the gut with her hand. "You _want_ to be chased by whores?" she asked him, wrinkling her nose.

Naruto laughed slightly, "Ne, ne, Sakura. They aren't all whores!" he said, running a hand through his honey blond hair.

She promptly hit him in the stomach again. "Did you _see_ the way Wantanabe Ami was dressed? Even WITH a uniform, she managed to pop her boobs out and show her thong. Whorefaceeee!" Sakura sang,

"Yeah, and she was hot!"

Slugging him in the abdomen again, Sakura sighed, rolling her apple colored eyes. "Let's just get to lunch…"

Naruto perked up again. "Ooh, I hope they have ramen available!"

--

"Ugh, they're so irritating!" Sakura fumed as she stabbed her salad, right into an unsuspecting artichoke heart. Taking a chomp out of the artichoke heart, she swallowed the rest quickly before taking a sip of Evian water.

Ino nodded in agreement, on the opposite side of the table from Sakura, glowering at the fangirls that were hanging onto an irritated Uchiha at the end of the table. Biting the tip of her gourmet pizza off, Ino swallowed and took a sip of her **Vitamin**Water (the XXX flavor). "This is so goddamn annoying," she told Sakura, capping her drink rather forcefully.

Sakura frowned, taking a few more stabs at her salad before deciding she didn't want it anymore. Moving on to the tiramisu she had bought from the dessert line, she felt a couple ounces of stress fade a bit with the first bite of cocoa-y goodness.

"You're not jealous, are you Sakura?" Hinata suggested timidly from Ino's other side. She sipped her tea with caution and grace.

Sakura's eyes widened just a fraction of a centimeter, and she was caught speechless for approximately half a second. "Of course not," she told Hinata a little too forcefully. "I just don't like the fact that Sasuke might hook up with a whore," she explained quickly.

Ino nodded slowly. "Right," she told her best friend, her voice filled with sarcasm. "Sure."

Sakura rolled her eyes before sliding the other three quarters of her tiramisu slice down the table. "Hey Uchiha! Eat this, I'm too grossed out to eat," she called down to Sasuke, throwing a dirty look towards Ami. Ami didn't see it, but everyone else at the table probably did.

Sasuke's eyes flickered up in time to catch a fork that had been flying straight towards his head, with spots of icing still on it, and Sakura's retreating back.

* * *

Sakura ripped off her shin guards with unnecessary force, shoving them into her field hockey bag quickly before pulling off her practice cleats and making sure she had both of her gloves. Her uniform safely stored away in a plastic drawstring bag at the bottom of her sports bag. Stalking out of the locker room in a clean version of her practice clothes, she ignored the looks some of the boys were giving her. It wasn't everyday that you saw one of the hottest girls in school in only a white beater and red Soffee shorts (rolled twice) with white spandex on underneath. 

"Bye Sakura!" some of the freshman players said to her, smiling with amazement up at her. Only a junior, Sakura was the varsity captain of Konoha's field hockey team.

"Bye," Sakura told them, throwing them a half-smile before quietly storming out to the parking lot. Finding Sasuke's car, she took out a spare key he had given her this morning, and popped open the truck, throwing her navy blue Under Armour sports bag in.

Unlocking the doors, Sakura slid into the passenger seat, scowling as she took her AP Calculus binder out of her bookbag in the backseat. Asuma-sensei had already started assigning them homework.

"Hey."

Sasuke opened the driver's door, giving her the lip quirk that would be a normal human's equivalent of a smile.

The Uchiha was back from his soccer practice. Like Sakura, he was a junior, but he was captain for the boy's Varsity Soccer team. Clad in only a tight, white, short sleeved Under Armour shirt, baggy black soccer shorts, and Adidas Samba shoes, Sasuke was literally a walking hazard for the opposite sex. She swore she saw a few girls from her team walk by and literally stare, foaming at the mouth, before running into a car or something.

"Hi," Sakura told him shortly.

Reaching towards the dashboard to push the button that unlocked the trunk.

Slinging his own sports duffle into the trunk, his an identical version of Sakura's bag, except black, Sasuke returned, twirling his keys around his fingers.

Sliding the appropriate key into the ignition, the BMW quietly hummed to life, and Sasuke smoothly glided out of the parking lot.

Sakura scowled before sliding down slightly in the leather seat and digging her nose a little deeper into her calc homework.

Ten minutes into the ride, Sasuke coasted to a stop at a red light. Sakura still had not said a word – usually by now, she would've been well into a conversation with him, bitching about lazy girls on her team, or about having AP Calc homework the very first day of school.

He sighed.

"Alright, Sakura, what's wrong?"

* * *

Um, hi. Sorry it took like a month to update. 

Marching band is almost over though. Then I'll have time (kind of) to write more?  
I shouldn't have taken AP classes this year, dammit.

I apologize if anyone was bored of Sakura's whole "getting ready for school" thing.  
I'm a girl, I love makeup, clothes, and first impressions, and I was channeling my own excitement into it.

For girls who didn't know any of this stuff (like how to put on makeup, identifying good brands from bad, etc.), be glad you're learning, because it's a good thing to know in life. If you ever need advice and tips, hit me up via reviews and PMs, because I **love** passing on knowledge.

For guys who don't care about this stuff (if there are any reading this), sorry if it bores you, but now you know what kind of mascara to get your girlfriend if you ever piss her off.

Either way, sorry, and review, kthnx.

_-ANGELforSHOW_


	5. Chapter Five

* * *

-

_Flower_ and **Ice**

x. Chapter Five

-

* * *

- 

_**Chapter Recap:**_

_He sighed._

"_Alright, Sakura, what's wrong?"_

* * *

- 

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What makes you think something's wrong?" she snapped at him, angrily punching numbers into her calculator while scribbling down the answer to number 25 on her homework.

"You're doing math homework," Sasuke replied calmly, driving on smoothly when the light turned green.

Sakura snapped the cover back onto her TI-89 Titanium, shoving the calculator into her bookbag along with her binder. "Shut up," she told him earnestly. "I am not angry. There is nothing wrong with me. I am perfectly _happy_," she said, throwing her bookbag into the back seat to emphasize her point. The Roxy bag bounced off the seat and hit the ground with a sullen thud.

"Liar. Now tell me what's wrong," Sasuke said to her calmly, jerking his car to the right lane to let a police car whiz past them.

"Nothing is wrong!" Sakura hissed, her mouth slipping into an angry pout as she looked up at the sky. Dark gray clouds were beginning to gather along to azure sky, quickly dimming the sunlight.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Just tell me what's bothering you. I won't mind."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"N – don't you start this again!"

"Yes."

Sakura huffed, crossing her arms. "Fine. You're submitting to a bunch of psycho whore slut bitches," she told him crossly.

Sasuke cast her a flat look. "Is that all you're mad about?"

"…yes."

"You're so_ weirddd_," he drawled out. "Isn't attracting all of this attention part of your plan to get me away from Kin?" Sasuke asked her, the Uchiha-equivalent of a smirk on his face.

Sakura turned her face away to look out the window. Rain was beginning to fall.

"Isn't it?" Sasuke pressed on gently, his voice velvet-soft.

Sakura sighed. "…yes."

An ambulance roared through the streets, calling for Sasuke to pull over once again.

Forks of lightening flashed through the dark sky, striking a valley far away. Thunder clapped through the skies, making Sakura jump and cringe. She curled herself up in the passenger seat, trembling.

Sasuke glanced to the side at her while he raced through the streets, trying to get home before it started to rain. "Shit…" he muttered. Sakura was deathly afraid of storms. Her grandfather, a pilot, had flown to his death in midst of a thunderstorm, his plane having been struck by a freak bolt of lightening, leaving him to spiral downwards into the sea.

"C'mon Sakura, just don't pay attention to it…think of something else…" Sasuke murmured to his best friend, reaching over to touch her arm hesitantly. She jerked away from his touch, trembling uncontrollably.

It was only five more miles until they reached Sakura's house, pushing the gas pedal even harder, Sasuke flew even faster to the Haruno estate, reaching the mansion in three minutes flat.

--

"Oh…my…God…" Sakura breathed out. Her face was being pelted with rain, and she was sure her mascara was running, but she didn't care. It was cold, the wind wrapping it's icy self around her and Sasuke over and over again.

"I'm sorry Miss, but are you the owner of this property?" a police officer asked with authority, his hat shielding him from most of the freezing rain. He was young, his eyes sorrowful.

"My parents are…" Sakura replied automatically, her eyes widening in horror from what she saw.

"Where are they?" the police officer gently pressed.

"The United States. On business."

"Well, we'll give them a call – we have their overseas information on file. Until then, please be safe. Be advised that there's been smoke damage and the foundation may be weak."

"Thank you, Officer," Sasuke said to the policeman as amicably as he could, showing his true Uchiha business side. He wrapped a gentle arm around Sakura, who was shaking more than ever.

"Sorry," he whispered to her.

Sakura just shook her head, as the last of the fire trucks left her driveway, leaving a quarter of her entire home charred and smoking.

* * *

"Mom, I don't know how it happened!" Sakura defended into her Sidekick, her voice on the brink of panic. "I was at practice, and…and then I got home, and – !" She abruptly stopped pacing when her mother cut her off. She was in Sasuke's room, the two of them having needed a place quiet so Sakura could cal her parents and inform them of their misfortune.

"Sakura, we're not blaming you. We just wanted to if you knew how it started or anything…" Mrs. Haruno told her daughter with the most soothing voice she could. "Don't worry about it dear, we have it covered."

"I – I – yeah…" Sakura ended soberly, sighing. The spazzing hysteria from moments before had faded away rapidly.

"Which area of the house was damaged?"

Sakura hesitated. "I think it was the wing of the house that had the parlors, the dining quarters, and part of the greenhouse?" she told her mother. "I wasn't allowed to go and look around. The police told me that the foundation was probably ruined and something could collapse."

"Then where are you going to stay?" Mrs. Haruno asked. "We won't let you live in there if it's liable to smash you at any given moment."

"I don't know…with Ino? Hinata?" Sakura said exhaustedly. "Someone will put up with me. But if not, Sasuke said he'd let me stay at his house." She collapsed on Sasuke's bed, sagging wearily into the midnight blue sheets.

"Just stay with Sasuke dear," her mother told her offhandedly. "The Yamankas are a little too catty for my taste, and the Hyuuga family seems to be a bit private and closed."

"Mom!" Sakura argued when she heard her mother complain about her two other best friends. "…Well, you wouldn't mind if I stayed with the Uchihas?"

"No, not really. We trust Sasuke after all. The boy's been screaming homosexual ever since his mother dressed him up in that frilly dress for kicks when he was five," Mrs. Haruno said cheerfully.

Sasuke's ears flamed. He didn't like to be reminded of that particular memory.

"But really," Mrs. Haruno turned serious. "I think it'd be best if you just tried to go back to living like normal. Go pick up some clothes from the house, hell, just buy some more if it'll take your mind off the stress, and just try to forget what happened. Daddy already called for some carpenters to start rebuilding."

"Alright Mother, I'll try," Sakura promised, kicking her Birkenstock clogs off her feet and swinging her legs up onto Sasuke's bed.

Mrs. Haruno smiled into the phone. "That's my girl. Bounce back like a Haruno."

"Thanks Mom."

"Well then, remember to wash all of your makeup off, moisturize daily, and for heaven's sake, don't annoy the Uchihas to death – it's bad for business!" Mrs. Haruno told her daughter with a grin that could be heard through her words.

Sakura rolled her eyes before cracking a smile. "Thanks Mom. Love you, bye!"

"Love you too dear."

Sakura ended the call on her phone. Sighing as she buried herself into Sasuke's sheets. They were tinted with the scent of Drakkair Noir cologne, while his pillow carried a faint hint of Bedhead shampoo. Closing her eyes, Sakura breathed in the intoxicating smell, curling up more.

Sasuke sat down at the headboard of his bed, near Sakura's head, waiting for her to say something.

"Sasuke…can you drive me back up to my house so I can get stuff?" she asked him weakly, voice muffled with his pillow.

"Aa."

"I'll get out of your house as soon as the foundation is finished, and I'm not at risk of being killed, I swear," Sakura promised, dragging her body up off of the bed – it was hard. Sasuke had some damn good cologne going for him.

"Just stay until the renovations are done," Sasuke muttered, going to his closet and pulling out a jacket from the depths – a plain black Northface.

"…you wouldn't mind?" Sakura asked, picking up her purse. The Burberry plaid was too bright for such a grim time, she thought irritably.

"I don't care," Sasuke said earnestly, "Here." He threw a jacket at her. Sakura caught it out of pure reflex.

"Thanks," she mumbled, slipping into the coat. She immediately relaxed when she felt the soft faux fur against her skin. Sasuke had known this was her favorite jacket of his – a dark gray Hollister with a furry inside.

"Aa. Let's go," Sasuke said, twirling his keys around his finger before walking out.

"Ah," Sakura agreed softly, pattering quietly behind him.

* * *

"Are you sure you have anything?" Sasuke asked as he placed Sakura's suitcases inside of the trunk of his car. The brown and tan Louis Vuitton cases fit perfectly into his trunk, there being just enough room for three cases.

"Yeah," Sakura said, running through a mental checklist. Casual clothes, formal clothes, several dresses (living with the Uchihas and being a Haruno, you never knew when you'd need them), cosmetics, toiletries, jewelry, accessories, practice clothes, uniform, laptop, chargers… "I'm going to follow you in my car," she told Sasuke. "I don't wanna keep bumming rides off of you forever."

"Hn," Sasuke nodded, "If you want." He walked over to his car.

Sakura nodded in return. "I'll see you in a bit then," she told him, walking over to her own car slowly and opening the diver's door. Twisting the key, Sakura's sky blue BMW quietly hummed to life.

Pulling out of her driveway after Sasuke, Sakura glanced at her passenger seat. She smirked as she stepped on the gas pedal. Sitting comfortably on top of the heated leather seats was a very, _very_ familiar yellow folder.

Ooh, Sasuke was going to _kill_ her when he found out what she had planned next.

* * *

Sasuke silently dragged two of the suitcases up his driveway, Sakura grabbing the third. They had parked in the Uchiha's garage. Although the garage was attached to the house, the entrance was in the kitchen. It would be easier to go through the front entrance.

"Where am I staying?" Sakura asked Sasuke as they lifted each suitcase onto the front deck in front of the main entrance.

"It depends on what rooms are free. Some of our guest rooms are being re-renovated because the air conditioning exploded over the summer or something," Sasuke said, punching the security code into the glowing keypad by his door. An audible click was heard and Sasuke flung open the door.

Sakura got up into the doorway and lifted her suitcase up through the double doors.

"Would you like our assistance, Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke looked up and saw his head butler and three other workers standing behind him.

"Aa, thank you," Sasuke nodded to the three men as they hoisted the suitcases up with ease, resting them on their shoulders. "Do you know which rooms are free?" he asked Tadao, his head butler.

Tadao nodded, "One moment…" he pulled out a PDA that had the house layout programmed into it. The small electronic device showed his position and details about rooms in the house. Tabbing up to the third floor, Tadao sifted through guest rooms, searching for one that was vacant.

Sakura took a moment to let her eyes wander around the Uchiha's foyer. The mirrored entrance was familiar to her – she knew all the exits. Turn directly to your left, and you saw a showcase parlor, never used ever. Continue at the right and further into the home a bit, and you reached an artifact room, filled with Uchiha heirlooms and history. If you kept walking straight ahead, you would reach the central staircase, a continuous, twisting, marble ladder. Once at the central staircase, you could wander in three directions. Go straight past the staircase, and you reached the music room. To the left were the kitchen, parlors, dining hall, and ballroom. To the right were the living rooms, den, home theatre, and game room. Up the stairs, you reached the second floor, then the third floor.

"I believe the Daisy Room is free," Tadao interrupted her thoughts. "Would that be okay Haruno-san?" the polite man cocked his head slightly as he waited for her answer.

"Yes, it's fine," Sakura answered, "Third floor, correct?" she started towards the central staircase as Sasuke and Tadao nodded. "Thank you Tadao."

Tadao bowed his head. "Certainly, Miss, if you find that there are any problems, please do not hesitate to ask."

Sakura nodded with a small smile before continuing on to her new room, which, presumably, was accented with daisies.

* * *

"Are you sure you have everything?" Sasuke asked Sakura when she was finally finished unpacking. She had dumped half of her wardrobe into the dresser, hung everything else up in the closet, invaded the bathroom with her cosmetics and toiletries, and collapsed exhaustedly on her bed, which was covered in her pillows and her ratty old teddy bear.

"Yes," Sakura told him while she lied down on the bed. She scooted over a little bit closer to the edge of the queen-sized bed and patted the empty space next to her. "You can sit or something. You've been standing for the past two hours."

Sasuke sat down on the edge of the bed. "Are you still up for going to school tomorrow?" he asked, looking at her bookbag – it was laying dejectedly in the corner with seemingly half finished calculus homework inside of it.

"Yeah, why not?" Sakura asked. "I finished all of my homework already during practice. Coach made me run drills, so I just did calculus while the team did plays," she laughed.

"Hn," Sasuke nodded slightly. He looked at the clock. It was 6:30. Dinner would be ready in half an hour.

There was silence for approximately three seconds.

"Hey Sasuke, guess what?"

"Hn?"

"It's time…"

"…What?"

Sakura sprang up like a puppet into her seated position. "THE BOYFRIEND CLINIC, PART TWO OF COURSE!" she proclaimed loudly, pulling the yellow folder of d00m from under her pillow, cackling slightly.

Sasuke cradled his head in one hand and sighed. "Fuck."

* * *

"Alright, so we have a possible list of girlfriends made up for you…" Sakura told Sasuke pulling a sheet of notebook paper from the folder. "Ino made it for me."

"Does Yamanaka make the entire clinic?" Sasuke asked irritably, remember the Quizilla quiz.

Sakura shrugged, "Yeah, basically. Now shut up and read the list," she thrust the paper in Sasuke's face.

The Uchiha accepted the paper, snatching it, before Sakura managed to find a way to shove it up his nose. Black eyes scanning the paper, he cringed when he saw many of the names Ino had scrawled down in her bubbly handwriting.

"Any that you may be interested in?" Sakura asked from the bed, lying face down into her Tempurpedic pillow with a sigh. The space foam quickly molded around every curve of her face, enveloping it in softness.

"Ami was…tolerable," Sasuke said awkwardly after about a minute of silence.

Sakura blanched at the girl's name. "Sure she was," she told Sasuke with a sarcastic eye roll, "And my hair isn't pink!" she ended with a broad Crest-white-strip smile.

Sasuke gave her a flat look. "What do you want anyway?" he asked, irritated.

Sakura flipped through her trusted buttercup colored folder. "Well, we just have to set you up on a date, and then we're good for Part Dos," she told him with a satisfied smirk.

"Aa," Sasuke responded, standing up. It was nearly 7:00. "Dinner's in five minutes. Get changed." He turned to leave, glancing back to make sure she got the message.

Sakura sighed and dragged herself up off the bed, meandering into the closet. "I'll meet you at your room," she told Sasuke from inside her closet.

"Aa."

Sakura sighed once more as she pulled a random dress off the hanger. She loved dressing up, but for once, she'd like to just eat in sweat pants and a tee shirt for once, as opposed to a frilly dress and heels.

Turning on her straightening iron to let it heat up, Sakura slowly shrugged out of her warm sweats and pulled on a silky black slip before getting into her dress.

She'd need to find those heels too…

* * *

"Why do we always have to dress up for dinner?" Sakura asked Sasuke crossly as she tried to wobble her way over to him down the hall in stilettos.

"Because we were raised to," Sasuke told her grabbing her arm when she almost fell next to him. "New dress?" he asked dryly.

"Yes, actually, bought it during THE Spree with Ino and Hinata," Sakura responded with a lopsided grin. She twirled a little, enjoying the way the material felt as it brushed against her skin. "Diane von Furstenberg, loooove it."

Sasuke glanced at the dress. It was a relatively short, strapless, little black dress, with a tuxedo inspired cummerbund. "It's cocktail-y," he told her, stopping when Sakura almost tripped over her shoes down the stairs.

Sakura nodded. "You're lucky though. You don't need to worry about needing new clothes for freaking _dinner_," she told him looking at the navy button up shirt and black slacks he wore, with a sky blue tie. "Augh, _dammit_, these stairs are killing me!" she complained as her ankle gave in to the heels and collapsed beneath her, leaving Sakura to hang off the rail.

"You could've worn different shoes," Sasuke told her, speeding up and ending up a few steps in front of her. "Take them off or something."

"They're too strappy. It was like hell trying to put them on twice," Sakura sighed as she hung onto the stair rail, inching down the stairs in misery. She accomplished edging down one step.

"Get on."

Sakura looked up. Sasuke had his back turned to her and his arms were out behind him, waiting. Smiling slightly, she climbed onto his back, letting him carry her down to the dining hall. She put her chin in the crook between his neck and his shoulder, inhaling slightly. _Drakkair Noir and Bedhead,_ she smelled with a smile.

"So Sasuke…"

"Hn?"

"Ami?"

"Yeah."

"I'll set you up."

* * *

I love piggyback rides. : ) 

Um, yeah. Review?

Oh! And **NEW STORY** out. It's SasuSaku and entitled Like VitaminWater. Read and review that too?


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